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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, January 27, 2015

CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

RITA MORRIS/Daily

LSA sophomore Matt Lawford plays ice hockey on a frozen-over mud pit Monday outside Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

AF TE RNOON SK ATE

SACUA meets 
with ‘U’ provost 
to discuss engaged 

learning, access

By CARLY NOAH

Daily Staff Reporter

University 
Provost 
Martha 

Pollack joined the Senate Assem-
bly during their meeting Monday 
to discuss several University pri-
orities, including access and digi-
tal education. The Assembly also 

passed a resolution discouraging 
faculty from signing confidential-
ity agreements when serving on 
University committees.

During her presentation, Pol-

lack highlighted four areas of 
focus: innovation in teaching and 
learning techniques, pursuit of 
bold research projects, fostering 
a diverse and inclusive campus 
and ensuring the affordability of 
a University education.

At a time when new technol-

ogy is making education formats 
more widely available and open, 
Pollack said the University is also 
thinking about the kind of learn-

ing experiences that will prove 
most relevant as students enter 
careers post-graduation.

“If your world is uncertain and 

ambiguous, you need the ability 
to take risks,” Pollack said. “You 
don’t learn that by being lectured 
to. If the world is complex, you 
need to be able to synthesize vari-
ous complex ideas.”

Though online tools can often 

diversify the learning experience, 
Pollack said online education 
tools would not erode the value of 
face-to-face education.

Apart from digital and engaged 

learning, Pollack also discussed 

the importance of diversity and 
inclusion at the University, not-
ing one of the institution’s largest 
challenges remains increasing 
the enrollment of under-repre-
sented minority students.

In the last year, students have 

called on the University to address 
issues of diversity and inclusion, 
most prominently as part of the 
Being Black at the University of 
Michigan campaign lead by the 
University’s Black Student Union. 
In December, University Presi-
dent Mark Schlissel announced 
he would release a campus-wide 

Six Greek 
chapters 
suspended
for damage 

Student leaders 
release statement 
condemning ski 
resort vandalism

By ANASTASSIOS 
ADAMOPOULOS

Daily Staff Reporter

After 
several 
University 

Greek life chapters reportedly 
caused damage at two Michigan 
ski resorts, six Greek life chap-
ters reportedly involved — the 
University’s chapters of Sigma 
Alpha Mu, Sigma Delta Tau, Pi 
Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi, Chi Psi 
and Delta Gamma — have now 
been suspended by their national 
chapters, according to a Univer-
sity release.

The Sigma Alpha Mu chap-

ter, which stayed at the Tree-
tops Resort with members from 
Sigma Delta Tau, was suspended 
last week by their national orga-
nization.

In a statement released Sat-

urday, three student leaders 
published an open letter apolo-
gizing for the events and promis-
ing action to hold those involved 
accountable.

CSG President Bobby Dishell, 

a Public Policy junior; Interfra-
ternity Council President Alex 
Krupiak, an LSA senior; and 
Panhellenic Association Presi-
dent Maddy Walsh, a Business 
junior, authored the letter to 
apologize for the behavior of 
these organizations.

“This terrible incident has 

been widely publicized across 
the nation, and rightly so: it was 
an act of shocking disrespect,” 
the letter said. “We, as leaders 
and Greeks at the University of 
Michigan, do not tolerate these 
kinds of acts, nor do we let such 
behavior fall under the radar. 
We intend to handle this situa-
tion with the utmost efficiency, 
and we will ensure that those 
responsible for the damage to the 
properties will be held account-
able throughout this process.”

The two resorts that suf-

CAMPUS LIFE

RITA MORRIS/Daily

University Provost Martha Pollack speaks about digital education initiatives at a Senate Assembly meeting in Palmer Commons Monday afternoon. 

See SUSPENSION, Page 3
See SACUA, Page 3

Access to student 
information could 

fuel improved 

learning analytics

By CARLY NOAH

Daily Staff Reporter

The University is exploring 

innovative methods to use exist-
ing data to improve teaching and 
learning techniques.

Though the University cur-

rently retains student data, such 
as course grades, some officials 
argue the information should 
be more accessible to research-
ers and professors, who can in 
turn use it to improve the student 
experience inside the classroom.

In an interview with The 

Michigan Daily, James Hilton, 
vice provost for digital education 
and innovation, said he is working 
with an informal group to draft a 
Standard Practice Guide policy to 
govern the use of collected data.

“We’ve been discussing the 

issues and principles involved 
and we’re in the process of draft-
ing an SPG, which would actually 
be the policy,” Hilton said. “Once 
we have that drafted, we will re-
shop it to get feedback on it to 
make sure everyone has a voice.”

Hilton said the SPG would 

largely focus on institutionaliz-
ing the process for accessing the 
data and opening up access for 
researchers to see sets of infor-
mation already collected by the 
University.

“How would you go about 

gaining access to data to see, for 
example, whether or not there’s a 
correlation between the sequenc-
es of courses people take and 
their success in those courses,” 
Hilton said. “Those are two dif-
ferent data sets right now.”

Because the SPG only exists as 

a draft, Hilton said he could not 
provide specific policies that may 
govern the use of student data. 
However, he added that the Uni-
versity collects data in a similar 
way that commercial websites 
analyze online behavior and use 
it to customize an Internet user’s 
online experience.

“But what if, instead of using 

analytics to deliver advertise-
ments, we use the same data-
intensive approach to deliver 
learning objects, tips and assis-
tance at just the right time as you 
go through the semester?” he 
said.

Hilton pointed to eCoach, a 

classroom data collection pro-
gram that uses information col-
lected from previous students’ 
responses to provide customized 
feedback to current students, as 
an example of how student data 
collection benefits both students 
and educators. Many large intro-
ductory STEM classes already 
use the program.

Currently, students who decide 

to participate in eCoach’s data 
collection complete a survey at 
the beginning of the semester 
that asks them a variety of ques-
tions about their expectations for 
the course.

Researchers 

identify pathway 

that monitors blood 

sugar levels

By KATIE PENROD

Daily Staff Reporter

Researchers from the Unit-

ed Kingdom and the Michigan 
Comprehensive Diabetes Center 
have identified the brain cells 
wired to detect glucose levels — 
a discovery which could improve 
how patients and doctors man-
age diabetes.

Martin Myers, a researcher 

at the Comprehensive Diabetes 
Center and an associate profes-
sor of Internal Medicine and 
molecular and integrative physi-
ology, said people with type 1 
diabetes cannot produce insulin 
and must keep their blood sugar 
as close to normal as possible. 
People with diabetes, particu-
larly type 1, have to constantly 
manage their blood sugar levels. 
But when participating in inten-
sive insulin therapy, people run 
a high risk of receiving too much 
insulin — a problem that can 
result in decreased blood sugar 
levels.

After three years of research, 

the scientists recently found a 
brain pathway that produces 
cholecystokinin, or CCK, a brain 
hormone that can detect blood 
glucose levels.

Myers said researchers are 

now studying neurons in the 

Pollack talks importance 
of a diverse student body 

HEALTH

See DIABETES, Page 3

ACADEMICS

Awaiting organ 

transplant, 
man receives 

innovative device

By NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT

Daily Staff Reporter

For a man without his heart, 

Stan Larkin is in good spirits.

The 
University’s 
Samuel 

and Jean Frankel Cardiovas-
cular Center recently pro-
vided 24-year-old Stan Larkin 
with a SynCardia temporary 
Total Artificial Heart that has 
allowed him to return home 
while waiting for a regular 
heart transplant.

Larkin 
has 
biventricular 

heart failure, meaning his ven-

tricles cannot effectively pump 
blood to his organs and has 
suffered from multiple heart 
failures and arrhythmias. Typ-
ically, patients needing a new 
heart are placed on a transplant 
list. Once on the list, it could 
be months to years before a 
patient has access to the donor 
heart he or she needs.

Larkin is the first patient 

in Michigan history to leave 
a hospital without a human 
heart. He is currently equipped 
with the Freedom Driver, a 
portable pump created by Syn-
Cardia Systems, Inc., a device 
he will use until he is eligible 
for a heart transplant.

Jonathan 
Haft, 
associate 

professor of cardiac surgery, 
said Larkin’s need for a heart 
was urgent.

“His condition deteriorated 

to the point where we were 
considering 
him 
for 
heart 

transplantation, but we did not 
think that he was going to have 
the time to wait until that suit-
able donor became available,” 
he said.

Haft said mechanical heart 

support has progressed since 
the 1970s, but Larkin’s situation 
is a first in that the Freedom 
Driver is easily transportable 
and allows patients to leave the 
hospital.

“What’s new and innova-

tive about this device is that 
the external component is now 
portable and allows patients 
to go home,” Haft said. “At our 
center, we’ve always been able 
to transplant patients within 
a five- or six-month period of 
time.”

Larkin is still listed for a 

See DATA, Page 3
See HEART, Page 3

‘U’ considers 
data collection 
policy changes

First patient leaves UMHS 

with artificial heart

Discovery 
may impact 
treatment of 
diabetes

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 55
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